The Wardens
by Gabriella Rose
Summary: When the Doctor and Clara crash land in the middle of nowhere, the Doctor recruits an old friend to help them find the parts they need to fix the TARDIS - but in the process, discover something entirely new that could reshape our universe, and all of the universes around us, forever.
1. Introduction

**A/N: Woah! Hey there! It's been a while! Sorry I haven't been writing recently, but I've just been insanely busy since I started my senior year of high school. Also, school often leaves me with a lack of inspiration and motivation, both of which are typically important to a writer. **

**Anyway, I hope to begin writing much more in the near future (that's what I'm telling myself, at least), which will include finishing this fan fiction. I had a dream about it last night and woke up with the whole story in my head, so now it's just a matter of making the time to write it. I promise that I will post the next part as soon as I can, though!**

**This story is supposed to take place between The Day of the Doctor and The Time of the Doctor (I'm not entirely sure if I have the Doctor's age and facts of that sort right – please feel free to correct me if you know what they are). It begins as a Doctor Who/sort of Firefly crossover, but pretty soon it will turn into a multi-fandom extravaganza! (I did not categorize it as a crossover, however, because not any one fandom will have more characters or whatnot than the others, and there are going to be many more then just two fandoms represented here. It is primarily a Doctor Who fan fiction with references and characters from other fandoms that one does not necessarily need to know the book/movie/show to understand. They will not be huge parts of the story, although I do hope they will make it more fun!) **

**Sorry about the ridiculously long author's note, but I'm really excited about this story, so I hope you like it! I'm posting both the Introduction and Chapter One at the same time, so this author's note applies to both. As always, review and enjoy!**

The Doctor sat with his legs dangling over the ledge of the open doorway of the TARDIS, looking out at the black sky. In his hand was a cup of tea that had long-since gone cold. Unconsciously, his thumb fiddled with the handle of the cup in the same intricate pattern, over and over again; down along the curve, then outlining the lump where the bottom of the handle met the cup in a u-shape, and finally tracing the inside of the handle with the back of his thumb until he reached the top again. The only sound was the TARDIS humming softly. Clara was in her room asleep, so the Doctor was alone.

He had been there since Clara had left him over three hours ago, and the only movement he had made was the pattern with his thumb on the tea cup.

_Gallifrey may not be lost_, he thought. _My family…_

In his mind, he could see images of their faces, slightly distorted after over 900 years without seeing them, but not forgotten.

A tear slid down the Doctor's face, but he didn't move to wipe it away and only continued with the fiddling of the teacup.

The Doctor saw something enter his peripheral vision and he glanced in its direction, startled. A massive ship was floating slowly past the TARDIS. It did not seem to be close enough to be a threat, but it looked unlike anything he had seen before, so the Doctor stood up anyway and walked towards the console to check the scanner. He watched the screen as the signal from the ship blinked out of range.

When it was gone, he began to turn around to head back to the open doors, but was halted by an alert going off. And then another, and another. Within seconds, more than fifteen alarms were going off, and the Doctor was running back towards the console. The scanner was picking up signals identical to the first one coming towards him, and now at a faster speed. Spinning around, the Doctor leaped towards the still-open doors and leaned out around the corner to look. He counted seventeen ships, similar to the first one, but smaller and more agile looking. And more hostile looking.

Suddenly, an explosion rocked the TARDIS and a sizeable hole was blown in the side. The Doctor yelled and scrambled to the flight controls as cuts were torn in his face from flying debris. Clara came stumbling into the control room, yelling, but the Doctor was too absorbed in trying to escape to hear her. The TARDIS shook as more shots were fired and whizzed past them. Through the hole, Clara could see the ships that were attacking them and gasped at their grotesqueness. What seemed to be blood painted the outside of each ship in different designs. Bones hung from random spots as decoration.

They kept firing at the Doctor and Clara, but none hit their mark. Finally, he was able to get the TARDIS moving, and they flew away from the attackers. Clara ran over to the Doctor and stared at him wide-eyed, waiting for an explanation. He met her gaze, his eyes just as fearful and confused as hers, and shook his head.

He had no clue who just blew a hole in the side of his ship, but he knew that he had to stop and fix it. She was already wheezing and both he and Clara needed a breather too. Watching the scanner for a planet to land on, the Doctor guided the TARDIS slowly along.

Clara walked around the console and picked up the shattered cup that had contained the Doctor's tea, ignoring the multitude of other chunks of debris that was scattered all over the TARDIS floor.

"I was just trying to enjoy my cup of tea, and they decide to blow a chasm in the side of my TARDIS! How rude!"

"Doctor, who were they," Clara asked.

"No idea, but I think that I should not like to run across them again."

"Well, sorry."

"What? What are you apologizing for?" When the Doctor looked up at Clara, he saw that she was staring over his shoulder. He followed her gaze past the console and through the hole in the TARDIS to see that three more ships were following. Grimacing, the Doctor reluctantly pushed the TARDIS to go faster. She groaned as she listed forward, trying to gain momentum.

"I know, I'm sorry old girl! Just a few more minutes, hang on!" Tremors rippled through the control room as more shots whooshed past them, barely missing each time. The Doctor stopped his frantic run around the console to check the scanner. There were no planets for them to land on in sight. He yelled in frustration, worried that the TARDIS may not make it long enough to find a place to land.

And then the shooting stopped, and the Doctor and Clara watched the three ships turn course and fly back where they came from.

"Doctor! Moon!" The Doctor spun around and saw that she was right: they were quickly passing a small moon that looked like a wonderful place to land. The Doctor changed course and carefully – but not so smoothly – landed on the surface of the moon. Clara looked at the Doctor for conformation that it was safe to leave the TARDIS and then jogged outside and searched the sky for any more ships. The sky was black and almost completely void of stars. The ships were nowhere in sight.

Clara walked back inside and saw that the Doctor was staring solemnly at the damage to the TARDIS.

"Don't just stand there! The TARDIS won't fix herself!" As she spoke, Clara began to make her way around the console, picking up the larger chunks of debris as she went. When she reached the Doctor, however, she dropped what she had gathered and turned his shoulders so that he had to look at her. There were still cuts in his face and Clara sighed and clicked her tongue as she took the sleeve of her dress to wipe off some of the blood. The Doctor flinched away and gave her a funny look.

"That's not sanitary, Clara! Are you trying to kill me?"

"I'll go get something from the medical room, then," she said, more amused than upset at the Doctor's outburst.

Once she left, the Doctor returned to his previous position – leaning one hip against the console and staring at the wreckage of the TARDIS.

_This could take days to fix. And I don't like the idea of being stuck here for days,_ he thought. _But I suppose it's unavoidable at the moment. _The Doctor did as Clara told and began to clean up.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: I apologize for the short length of these first two parts, but I promise it will get better!**

**P.S.: "The Wardens" is a working title and I may decide to title it something else later on, so don't be confused if it changes – it's still the same story!**

Clara jumped as the Doctor roared and a series of thuds and clangs proceeded.

"Are you alright? Doctor?" Clara yelled as she threw her book down and ran to the top of the stairs leading below the console.

"AHA. Yes, Clara, I'm fine. I cannot, however, say the same for our situation."

"What does that mean?"

"Good or bad news first," the Doctor asked as he and Clara sat down on the top step.

"Bad," she responded.

"Ok, well the bad news is that I don't have it."

"It?"

"It is the good news. I found out what part I need to replace."

"So you found out what part you need, but you don't have it," Clara clarified.

"Precisely."

"Wonderful," she said as she slumped her shoulders. "So now what?"

"Hadn't thought that far ahead yet. Let me get back to you."

Clara grunted and stood up to return to her book. "How exactly do you _find_ parts for a TARDIS, though. Nobody just sells them, right?"

"Not exactly, no. They're hard to find. Intergalactic museums. Junkyards. Personal galleries. Hard to say. Just have to look around and hope they turn up within a few days."

"Better get looking, then!"

"Or months," the Doctor added quietly, hoping she wouldn't hear.

"Months?!" Clara glared at the Doctor. "Do not tell me that, Doctor, because I won't be stuck out here with you for _months._"

"You won't be, I promise! We'll get help so it will go faster!"

"From who?" The Doctor stared at her for a few moments with no answer. Clara sighed and sat back down on the step.

"Wait!" She spun back around as the Doctor yelled. "Maybe…" The Doctor let his sentence trail off as he made his way towards the TARDIS phone. Clara waited as he dialed a strange and complicated-sounding number on the keypad and then held up the phone to his ear.

"Come on, pick up," he said as he bounced his leg impatiently. Suddenly, Clara heard a voice yell into the phone from where she stood and the Doctor flinched and held the receiver away from his face.

"Yes, I know it's been a long time. B-" The doctor was cut off by more yelling and what sounded like gunshots. Clara raised her eyebrows.

"Are you still there? Good, because I'm in a bit of a pickle and would really appreciate your h-" The Doctor paused again and let the sound die down some. Clara heard a sharp shout come from the receiver and the Doctor slapped the phone back to his ear.

"Are you alright? Ok, I'm sending coordinates to you now. Clara," the Doctor said as he ran to the scanner and frantically pressed buttons, "you might want to move."

Clara didn't question him and started to walk towards him.

"No! Not there?"

"Well, where then?"

"I don't know, exactly. I guess we'll just have to hope for the best."

"The best for what? Doctor! What's going on?" The Doctor didn't respond to Clara.

"Did you get them? Alright." He hung up the phone and Clara looked at him for an answer. Suddenly, there was a flash of light next to her, and when Clara jumped around to look, there was a man standing there. Clara yelped as he fell to his knees, holding his side.

"Jack! Jack, are you alright?!" The Doctor exclaimed as he bent down next to the man.

He grabbed Jack's hands gently and pulled them away from the wound he was cradling. They were covered in blood.

"Been better, Doc," he replied, and choked on the pain as he tried to laugh.

"Clara, go get the first aid kit out of the medical room, please." Clara immediately turned and ran out of the control room. The Doctor stooped down, put Jack's arm around his shoulders, and helped him into the captain's chair a few feet away. Jack grunted as the Doctor lowered him into a sitting position.

"You can't ever keep yourself out of trouble, can you?" the Doctor exclaimed.

"Sorry, just can't help myself," Jack chuckled. He looked up into the Doctor's eyes. "You changed again. How long has it been since I last saw you?"

The Doctor thought for a moment. "I don't know. Maybe… five, six hundred years? Maybe more. How long for you?"

Jack looked down at his watch. "As of right now, three hundred and forty-two years, thirty-six days, and eleven minutes."

The Doctor laughed and shook his head and Clara came running back into the control room, first aid kit in hand. Taking it from her, the Doctor knelt beside his friend and opened the kit.

"I've got it, here." Jack grabbed the required tools, set them on his lap, and unbuttoned the front of his shirt with some difficulty, as his hands were shaking and slippery with blood. The bleeding didn't appear to have stopped yet and as the Doctor watched Jack work at the buttons, he noticed how white he had gone. Jack finally finished opening his shirt and the Doctor began to investigate the wound.

Clara knelt on the opposite side of Jack to the Doctor and put a hand on his knee. "What happened?" she asked in a calming voice. She, too, had noticed that Jack was loosing too much blood and she was afraid to let him go unconscious. He turned to look at her and his eyes lit up.

"Hello," and a goofy smile was his response, and Clara laughed.

"Hi, but you didn't answer my question. How did this happen?" Jack glanced down at the gunshot wound in his side, as if he had forgotten it was there.

"Oh. Um, 1864. American Civil War battle that would later be known as the Battle of Totopotomoy Creek."

"Wait, you can time travel too? Doctor, he can time travel too?" Jack held up his wrist gingerly to show Clara the leather band that was wrapped around it.

"Vortex Manipulator from when I was with the Time Agency. Travels through time and space, just like the TARDIS, but not quite as smoothly. Takes some getting used to." Clara smiled and suddenly realized that she didn't even know who he was.

"What's your name, I heard the Doctor call you…"

"Jack. Captain Jack Harkness, at your service." Jack leaned forward in his seat in an attempt to bow, but inhaled sharply through his teeth at the pain and gently replaced his back against the back of the chair.

"Hey, hold still," the Doctor chastised. Clara looked down to see the Doctor pick up a large pair of tweezers off of Jack's lap and prepare to remove the bullet that still appeared to be lodged inside. The excess amounts of blood made her feel queasy, so she looked back towards Jack's face to see his eyes shut. Clara patted his leg.

"Jack, you need to stay awake a little longer. Jack!" Very gently, but with enough force to make his eyes flutter open, Clara slapped his cheek.

Jack moaned in pain, but the Doctor quickly and successfully retrieved the bullet and dropped it into a metal bowl with a clang. A few stitches and a gauze bandage was applied, then the Doctor and Clara each threw one of his arms around their necks and began to half-walk, half-drag him to a room he could lay down in. They guided him on to a bed, and before helping him lay down, removed the bloody shirt that he was still wearing.

Jack fell unconscious the moment Clara lowered his head onto the pillow.


	3. Chapter 2

**I am super duper sorry that I haven't updated this in forever, but a lot has been going on in my life, and this was just not a priority. I graduated high school, turned 18, got my drivers license, my father passed away, started getting ready to leave for college (which is out-of-state), and now I have just a little lull in my life in which I hope to catch up on some fun stuff. Soooooo, here is the second chapter of my second fanfiction, The Wardens. Please review! I love hearing your comments and suggestions! **

The Doctor stood alone in the TARDIS kitchen, making himself a new cup of tea in replacement of the one that had been smashed in the attack. His mind rolled with questions unanswered and worry. Whoever assaulted them was a formidable threat – one that he had a feeling was not gone. Why didn't he know who they were? Those ships were completely foreign to him, and he hated it.

"What are we up against this time?" he said aloud as he looked about the room. The teakettle whistled and The Doctor turned to look at it disapprovingly. "Not much of an answer…"

Clara stepped into his view and leaned against the doorframe. "I think Jack will be fine. He's out cold right now. We can check on him again in an hour or so." The Doctor nodded without looking at her.

"Would you like some?" he asked as he poured his own cup.

"Yeah, that'd be lovely." The Doctor still did not acknowledge Clara, and prepared a second cup without a sound.

"What's the matter, Doctor. I don't like it when you're silent. Something is always the matter when you're silent." The Doctor turned and handed Clara her tea, but avoided eye contact.

"Nothing's the matter." A pause. "I'm concerned. Clara, I have no idea who those ships belonged to. Not an inkling. And I hate not knowing. Not when they've blown a hole in the side of my TARDIS."

"Doctor, they're gone now, though. We're fine, right?" The Doctor looked Clara in the eyes for the first time since she walked in the room.

"For now. But they must have attacked for a reason and I can't believe that they would just take off like that and be finished with us. Not by the way they looked and acted. Did you get a good look at them, Clara?" She nodded slightly.

"Blood for paint, and bones for ornaments," she replied. "They seemed like savages. Maybe they _didn't _have a reason to attack. Maybe they're gone."

The Doctor observed her for a moment. "Maybe. But I don't think we should let our guard down. We need to find the part we need as quickly as we are able and get out of here. Something about this area of space isn't right. I'd like to find out why, but not while we are handicapped like this." Clara nodded.

"As soon as Jack is better, we can start looking."

"Well, then, he'd better heal quickly." The Doctor stalked out of the room, sipping his tea and stepping past Clara. She watched him return to the control room, but didn't follow. Looking down at her tea, she took a step back in the opposite direction.

"Y'know, I think I'll just go sit with him a bit and make sure he's okay," she called.

The Doctor didn't say a word and turned the corner.

…

Clara sat down in the big leather armchair in the corner of the room, tucking her legs underneath of her and putting her tea on the end table. She watched Jack sleep, lost in thought. He was breathing more evenly now and seemed more at rest.

For the first time since she had awoken, Clara realized that she was still wearing her pyjamas. She couldn't have been asleep for more than a few hours before this whole ordeal woke her up, and upon recognizing this, a wave of exhaustion hit her. Turning her body so that she could rest her head more comfortably on the back of the chair, Clara began to nod off. She was tempted to get up and go to her own room, but before she could make a move, she had fallen fast asleep. Her breathing fell in unison with Jack's for a few moments before Jack began to stir.

At first, Jack only mumbled and turned his head slightly, but then he began to thrash and cry out, still asleep. Clara jolted awake just as Jack woke himself up with a cry of pain. He pressed his hand down on his wound and inhaled sharply. Clara hurried to his side and lifted the bandage to investigate. One of the stitches had been ripped out and it was bleeding again. Jack wiped his forehead from sweat as Clara retrieved the first aid kit from the nightstand and re-stitched the wound. While she worked, Jack watched her. Her brow was furrowed in concentration, hair was falling in her face, and her eyes were tired, but he thought that she still looked beautiful. The stitches repaired, Clara re-bandaged it and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Thank you. I'm sorry I woke you," Jack said, still watching her face.

"No, it's okay. That's what I'm here for." She smiled tiredly and then covered her mouth as she yawned hugely. Jack laughed.

"No, you need sleep." Clara chuckled and nodded.

"Maybe I do," she said, and to Jack's surprise, she laid down next to him on the bed and fell right asleep. Jack smiled and moved over so that she wouldn't fall off the edge, then fell asleep as well.

…

The Doctor pressed a button on the console and stepped back to watch the scanner. Slowly, an image of the moon they were on loaded onto the screen. Anticipation mounted in his abdomen as he waited for it to finish. The scanner made a little beep, and then the results appeared at the bottom corner of the screen, written in Circular Gallifreyan. The Doctor squinted.

"Zero life forms," he read aloud. "Okay, well I guess that's good." The Doctor looked down and pressed a few more buttons. The image expanded and the moon on the screen grew smaller to accommodate for the new area filling in around it. The scanner made another sound to announce its completion, and more writing appeared in the corner.

Concern etched itself into the Doctor's forehead. "Zero life forms, twenty-three unidentified craft… They were unmanned? Surely not…" He stepped away from the scanner and began to circle the console, mumbling as he went. When he had almost reached the spot where he had begun, a voice startled him.

"Reevaluating… Reevaluating…" the TARDIS articulated as the Doctor hopped back over to the scanner. The writing in the corner changed and he leaned in to read it.

"Five – what?! – five hundred thirteen life forms!" the Doctor exclaimed. He turned his head to look through the hole in the TARDIS before quickly reading the rest. "Twenty-three unidentified craft. How can five hundred thirteen living things just appear like that? Why weren't they picked up the first time?"

Suddenly, the scanner dinged and the Doctor shouted.

"What NOW?" A little blob had appeared on the surface of the moon, not far from where the TARDIS was parked. The Gallifreyan in the corner read "five hundred fourteen life forms, twenty-three unidentified craft." The Doctor scratched his head, and before he could complain about it, the blob disappeared and the reading went back down to five hundred thirteen.

"Okay…" Unsure of what to do, the Doctor fumbled with his hands for a moment before walking out of the TARDIS and looking around quizzically. There was nothing. It was just flat landscape, only disrupted by a few moon rocks. Not a living soul in sight. From outside, he heard another ding, and the Doctor quickly scanned the moon with his eyes.

THERE! In the corner of his eye, something darted behind a moon rock. The Doctor started to run towards it, but then remembered that the oxygen bubble around the TARDIS could only extend so far. Cursing under his breath, he stopped and waited for more movement, but saw nothing. After a few minutes, the Doctor ran back inside and started up the TARDIS, preparing to move her. She groaned in protest and threatened to shut down.

"I know, I know! It's only a few feet, Old Girl! Please, for me!" The TARDIS hummed, only slightly less disgruntled, and obeyed. Slowly, they dematerialized and rematerialized next to the moon rock that the Doctor had been watching. After successfully landing, the Doctor ran back out the door and circled the rock.

"It looks like it's just a rock…" he thought aloud. Using his right foot, he gently kicked it. The rock reverberated with a metal clang. The Doctor quickly bent over and rapped the rock again with his knuckle. Definitely hollow, and certainly not rock-ish. The Doctor grinned "…but of course, it could never have been 'just a rock.'" Hopping around to the back of the non-rock, the Doctor discovered a niche that looked like it might be a handle. He wrapped his fingers under it and pulled, revealing a hatch in the bottom of the rock that contained a narrow, metal ladder that led straight down. The Doctor could not see the bottom.

The Doctor's eyes lit up and without a second thought he sat down on the edge of the chute, put his feet on the rungs below him, and began his decent into the darkness, shutting the hatch behind him.


	4. Chapter 3

**It's been over a year since I last updated this fanfiction and I think it's clear that I have severe commitment and time management issues. I have been unbelievably busy in the last year (I know, excuses, excuses), and have had an incredible lack of motivation/inspiration to write. This chapter has literally been almost finished for the past year as well. It only took me a few minutes total to complete it once I opened it back up. Sorry I'm such a lazy person. **

**If you don't completely despise me by now, enjoy this chapter and please review if you like it or have suggestions! See you whenever I write the next chapter!**

Clara woke with a start. She looked around for a moment before remembering where she was. Slowly, so as not to wake him, she craned her head over her shoulder to see Jack lying beside her. Clara grimaced.

_Wow, why did I get in bed with him? I mean, it's not like anything _happened,_ but I'm pretty sure what I did probably qualifies me as a class A weirdo. Who does that…? _

As quickly as she could without disturbing him, Clara crawled to the edge of the bed and sat there for a moment, just watching Jack. A slight frown creased his brow and Clara wondered what he was dreaming about.

She was just about to turn the light off and leave the room when the TARDIS engines clanged to a halt. Jack's eyes shot open and his hand flew beneath his pillow, retrieving a knife Clara hadn't seen him stash there. Clara yelped and put her hands out to stop him from killing her.

"It's just me, Jack! It's Clara!" You're okay!" Jack blinked and dropped the knife onto the bed.

"Oh my God! I'm sorry, Clara!" he said as he sank back onto the bed.

"No, it's okay," she replied. "It scared me too. I didn't even know we were in flight…" Clara let the end of her sentence trail off, confused as to where it was they had flown to.

Jack sighed and tucked the knife back under his pillow, accidently grazing Clara's hand with his fingers in the process. Her skin tingled at the touch and her stomach turned in a not-so-bad way.

_Bloody hell, you don't even know him. Weirdo. _She thought to herself. When Clara looked up, their eyes met. Jack gave her a knowing expression, and immediately she dropped her gaze.

"I'm going to go see what's going on with the Doctor," she said as she stood up.

"Okay," he responded, still staring at her.

"Alright," she said. Without looking at him, she walked out of the room and shut the door. Unfortunately, as soon as the door shut, she realized that she had left her teacup sitting on the end table.

Clara leaned her back against the door and slapped her palm to her forehead before grabbing the handle and pushing the door back open.

Jack was still staring in her direction when she entered the room and locked eyes with her when she looked at him. He smiled.

"Forget something?"

"Oh." Clara realized after a pause that she was still standing in the doorway. "My teacup." She walked quickly past the bed and towards the end table, far too aware of Jack's gaze following her. Picking up her teacup, Clara spun around and showed him, as if he hadn't previously believed that her teacup was still in the room. She laughed awkwardly and practically ran out of the room, closing the door a little too harshly behind her. She stopped for just a moment, waiting to hear something from Jack, but he made no sounds. Clara sighed and rolled her eyes to herself as she walked away.

_Good job, genius. Class A weirdo._

…

The Doctor let his feet dangle beneath him for a moment before letting his hands slide from the rung of the metal ladder. The soles of his boots hit the floor with a clang. Yellow light flooded the hall and the exposed piping along the walls and ceiling cast strange shadows.

In front of The Doctor was an embossed silver and white sign that read:

** NO PUBLIC ACCESS **

**\- Psychiatric / Cell Blocks A,B, and C -**

**\- Solitary / Visitation -**

**\- Maximum Security** **/ ****Security/Check-In -**

Both directions of the hall looked exactly the same, so The Doctor grinned and, of course, headed to his left.

It seemed forever before the hall changed in appearance. Quite suddenly, it became wider and doors appeared on either side of the Doctor. He inspected them and found them to be nothing more than supply closets. They mostly contained uniforms, all monotone and neatly pressed and folded on shelves. There were also bins of food and water, slippers, and an assortment of other things that the Doctor found uninteresting. He kept searching each closet, though, hoping to maybe bump into something more exciting.

Eventually he did. The Doctor pushed open the second-to-last door at the end of the hallway and was surprised to see racks of handcuffs lining the wall to his right, straightjackets hanging neatly on the opposite wall, and a glass locker of weapons on the back wall. The Doctor stepped all of the way into the room and shut the door behind him. As soon as the door clicked closed, a bright white light began to flash obnoxiously and a high-pitched beep echoed through the metal hall outside. The Doctor tried to pull the door back open, but it had locked him inside. He walked backwards away from the door and thought about breaking the weapon safe behind him and arming himself with something, but before he could, the door flew open and he was knocked unconscious by a tranquilizer dart.

…

Clara paced in the kitchen as she made some coffee, hoping to wake herself up. She was exhausted and it seemed like whenever she was with The Doctor she hardly got a chance to sleep. He didn't really need to sleep like she did, so he probably never thought about how tired she always was. In fact, now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure she had ever seen him actually voluntarily sleep. She wondered if he ever did.

Once she got the coffee brewing, she walked out to the control room to see where they had moved to when they landed. She didn't even have to open the door, she just observed from the inside of the gaping hole in the side of the TARDIS. The landscape didn't look any different than before, so they were still on the same little moon. Clara couldn't figure out why they had moved. It was then that she noticed the lack of Doctor in the TARDIS. Clara turned around in a circle and glanced around the room, just to make sure he wasn't hiding in the shadows somewhere, trying to be mysterious (as he often did and was eerily good at).

"Doctor?" Clara called, frowning. After determining that he definitely wasn't in or near the control room, Clara began to make her way back to the kitchen. She heard glasses clanging in the kitchen as she neared it and called out again.

"Doctor?" Clara turned the corner to see Jack standing there, pouring out two mugs of coffee.

"Just me," he said and smiled. "I smelled the coffee and couldn't resist." Jack picked up both mugs and handed one to Clara.

"Thanks," she said. "But you probably shouldn't be up yet. That wound was nasty and you need to give it time to heal so it doesn't become infected or torn open again."

"Nurse?" Jack asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nanny," Clara laughed. "So, basically." Jack chuckled with her and they paused the conversation for a moment to sip their coffee.

"Maybe we should look for him if he doesn't come back soon," Jack said.

"Probably. I'm sure The Doctor can still manage to find trouble even when we've landed on an uninhabited moon." Jack nodded in agreement, but he looked distant. He was looking around the inside of the TARDIS, his eyes far away. Clara watched him as he took his coffee and walked out of the kitchen towards the control room. She followed and sat down on the stairs as he walked over to the console.

"He's redecorated the TARDIS a lot since I last saw it," he said. "I think I like it. It looks more like space and less like a tree." Clara smiled.

"So what's your story? How did you meet The Doctor?" Jack didn't say anything at first and continued to observe the console.

"It was a long time ago for me." He paused. "Something has changed about the Doctor. I mean, other than the fact that he's regenerated twice since I first met him. I know what changes that brings." He looked up and looked Clara directly in the eyes. "I don't know what happened, but something changed him, and not for the better. He seems… more distant than he used to. Like he's trying to detach himself from everything. I've seen him sort of like this once before, when I first met him. It's not good. He can get careless." Jack started walking around the console again. "Just… watch him. Don't let him do something he'll regret."

Clara looked at him intensely, trying to decipher his words. She thought that she had seen some of what Jack was talking about in the Doctor's past.

The console beeped and Clara saw something move out of the corner of her eye. Jack walked towards the scanner screen and Clara stood and moved closer to the hole in the side of the TARDIS.

"That's weird," Jack said. "The life form count went up for a second. It almost looked like something else is on this moon… Maybe it's The Doctor, but that wouldn't explain why it went back down…"

"I don't think that was The Doctor. Too short, not lanky enough." Clara was still watching outside, trying to catch another glimpse.

"You saw something?" Jack said curiously as he walked to stand next to Clara.

"Some_one_, I think." Jack grinned at Clara.

"Shall we go introduce ourselves, then?" Clara smiled back mischievously.

"I think it's the polite thing to do." They both moved to the hole in the TARDIS and Jack stopped in front of it, holding his arm out.

"After you," he said as Clara grabbed his arm and stepped over the rubble onto the surface of the moon. Jack clambered out after her and they walked in the general direction of the movement Clara had seen before. She stopped in front of a relatively large moon rock and then circled it.

"I could have sworn this is where I saw that person. They walked out from behind it and then ducked back and disappeared." She knelt and felt around it, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Jack lifted a foot and kicked it gently. Clara frowned. It sounded hollow.

"Jack, do that again," she said as she put her ear closer to its surface. He tapped it again with the toe of his boot and Clara listened carefully. "Whatever this is, it definitely doesn't sound like any rock I've ever encountered." She sat back and observed the rock again, noticing for the first time a small indentation that could almost be a handle. Wrapping her fingers around it, she pulled up and stood. The rock lifted on hinges and Jack and Clara saw a narrow tunnel heading straight down with a ladder attached to the wall.

"I guarantee that's where The Doctor disappeared to." Clara continued peering down the hatch while Jack spoke.

"I guarantee you're right," Clara said. "I say we follow. Knowing him he'll need rescuing pretty soon." Jack snorted.

"I'll go first."

"Oh no you won't! I can't have you looking up my skirt the whole way down!"

"Clara, you're not wearing a skirt."

"Right. Never mind, then. Go on."

Jack lowered himself down into the hatch and began climbing down the ladder carefully. Clara followed and shut the fake rock after them.

…

The Doctor woke up slowly, keeping his eyes closed. He felt more well rested than he had in a while and he smiled to himself, raising his arms to stretch. It was only when he realized he couldn't move that his eyes shot open and remembered where he was. He looked around and saw nothing but blank walls illuminated a blood orange from the solitary light on the ceiling. It looked like a cell. There was a door with a small barred window at the top and a flap at the bottom for pushing meals under. The Doctor was lying on a surprisingly comfortable cot against a wall with his wrists and ankles secured by leather straps. He couldn't feel the familiar lump of his sonic screwdriver inside his pocket and he couldn't think of any better option than to shout.

"HEY. LET ME OUT OF HERE. WHERE AM I?" The Doctor lifted his head and looked past the foot of the cot to the window in the door, waiting for someone to come. He heard footsteps and moments later, a woman was peaking in the window.

"LET ME GO. WHO ARE YOU?" The woman disappeared and The Doctor heard footsteps, moving away from the door this time.

"HEY! COME BACK HERE! LET ME OUT!" Soon The Doctor heard several pairs of footsteps heading his way again and he lifted his head a second time. Keys jangled in the lock and the door creaked open.

A short man stepped into the cell, followed by the woman that had first responded to The Doctors' shouts and a man that was built like a mature adult, but had the face of a twelve year-old. The woman was almost a foot taller than the short man that was obviously in charge, but compared to anyone else she would not have been considered tall. The boy-faced man was a little taller then the woman and had slicked down hair, parted on the side. Both of them had on military uniforms and utility belts with weapons hanging from them. The man in front had on a similar uniform as the guards, but it was decorated with so many medals that it clanged and shimmered as he moved. He held his head up to try and make himself look taller, but he only looked as if he had a permanent crick in his neck and he could look nowhere but up.

The guards stopped and stood next to each other in front of the door while the little man kept walking and sat on the edge of the bed next to The Doctor. The man and The Doctor stared at each other for a few moments and the man looked more curious than threatening. Confused, The Doctor squinted at the man and he shifted and sighed in response.

"We want your help. And I think in return, we could also help you, Timelord."


End file.
